


La Rouge

by crybabyenligne



Series: In Plain Sight [2]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: A prequel of sorts, Age Difference, Blood and Gore, Blood and Injury, Bullying, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, F/M, Heavy Angst, M/M, Magical Realism, Mild Sexual Content, Moral Dilemmas, Siren Ten, Sirens, a bit of fluff. as a treat, as much as i support the monster fucking agenda, don't worry tho guys, once again just in case, so no smut here :D, u need to be legal to fuck them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-03-03 06:00:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24440104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crybabyenligne/pseuds/crybabyenligne
Summary: Qian Kun is sitting by a lakeside crying because a night he was been looking forward to for weeks just went sour. It's quiet and it's dark and he feels alone and so unloved.Something in the lake moves closer.
Relationships: Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten/Qian Kun
Series: In Plain Sight [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1787578
Comments: 13
Kudos: 70





	La Rouge

**Author's Note:**

> this was not meant to be as long as it is. i don't know how this almost got to 10k
> 
> you could view this a prequel of sorts to the markhyuck fic but it's ultimate just another pairing in the same universe
> 
> Edit as of 02:15am on a saturday no dis is not a prequel. it is whatever the hell it is. none of these are connected anymore bc i messed up lmfao
> 
> stream TBT

Kun has been living in this shitty, off-the-map town for almost two years now. His parents thought sending him to live with his aunt and uncle would be good for his mental health, even better for his social skills. They thought that he needed somewhere quiet to focus on himself and his education instead of the loud and stifling atmosphere that carried on day and night across the ocean. Because Kun had slowly been driving himself insane the whole time he'd been in China. 

He's not sure where they got the idea that making him live in a country who's language he hardly knew was a good idea, because it's really done fuck all for him. He's still going insane and beating himself up and making shit decisions, except this time it's in a town where everyone knows everyone and everyone dislikes _Kun_. 

What's happening now is a testament to that. 

The shocked and horrified silence in the school hall has been holding up for nearly a minute now, the only noise the _drip drip drip_ of the red paint as it's tugged down to earth by gravity. His eyes are closed to stop the damage the paint would surely do and his head aches from how the bucket had smashed against it, cut loose from the string that held it up. He still hasn't moved, frozen in front of a crowd of over a hundred. His sweaty hands still haven't let go of the cue cards he was working his way through. 

They really pulled a 'Carrie' on him. _What the hell_. The only reason he hasn't burst into tears or started shrieking hysterically is because he's still scared shitless by the crowd before him, like he was before his year-mates decided to publicly humiliate him, and he's dreading the moment he moves, thinking that if he shifts the silence will be broken; by laughter or by another sick joke, he's not sure, but any reaction right now will send Kun down a spiral that will lock him in his bedroom for a week at least. He can feel the paint as it creeps down the back of his suit, probably staining the white collar shirt he spent so long ironing. _Scratch that. Definitely staining it_. Because Qian Kun has shit luck. Always had, always has, always will. 

_Fuck this town._ He hears the click of heels as someone makes their way towards him, the sharp sound echoing as they near. _Fuck these people_. It's Yoonah, he learns, is carefully taking the bucket off his head, recognizing the distinct flower-scented perfume she wore everyday without fail. _Fuck this school_. He opens his eyes after she stops wiping them with tissue, meeting her dark, horrified pair with his own dull and tear-filled ones. 

"I-I'm so sorry, Kun," she whispers. There's no point, still none of the parents or families or staff members in the crowds have made a noise yet. It's like they actually expect him to react just like Carrie did in the movies and start committing atrocities. But this isn't America, this isn't a prom, this isn't a movie. "The teachers are already looking for the people who did it... I-I am so fucking sorry."

 _Fuck everything,_ he thinks hollowly as he finally releases the cue cards and just turns around and starts making his way for the back exit at the back of stage. She doesn't follow. No one meets his eye as he passes. He's sobbing hysterically before he can even make it out the door. 

"WHY ME?!" He shouts as he storms his way into the woods behind the school. "WHAT DID I EVER DO TO THEM?!"

Because that's the real kicker. Kun has never known what he did to make his classmates feel so weird around him, he's always tried to be friendly and approachable. The city back in China was better than this, because everyone is an asshole in the city. So if he was rude then he could expect rude back without hesitation. Kun had been here for less than two weeks before an upperclassman mocked his accent, it only took a month for someone to steal notes from his locker and leave a note saying ' **i'm sorry, i need it more, i can't fail :(** ' and after that it just kept coming. He was never mean unprovoked because the thing he wanted most when he was shipped over here was a friend. Just someone to talk to. It was all Xiaojun had wanted for him too; whenever he called he always sounded so sad when Kun always said he did everything alone. 

If Kun was nice someone took advantage of it. If Kun sniped back to an aggressive comment then more would pick on him. If Kun defended himself he got sent to the office for participating in a fight and then he'd return to his aunt yelling and his uncle's palpable disappointment. If Kun did nothing, then somehow, someway, it would be perceived wrong. And something would happen. 

"It's all a trap," he mumbles to himself, voice catching as another sob tears it's way out. "I can never fucking win."

He's wandering blindly, tripping over tree roots and walking into bushes. The back of his shirt clings to his skin and his suit jacket has already been torn after a bramble bush refused to let him go. It's almost summer, just a month until he graduates, only a few weeks until his final exams. The humid air has his skin dampening already, his perfectly styled hair falling apart under the heat, his carefully applied makeup now feeling heavy on his face. 

It had just been a stupid award ceremony to help with the students mood before everyone got sucked into their final exams, but the role Kun had earned was precious to him -- a presenter, pretty much, to call out the names and keep the crowd happy and introduce all the acts and performances the other students had created. He's always wanted to be on stage, it was the dream that he almost killed his youth with before his parents finally tried to stop him, so even if all he had to do was stand on stage and call dumb things off cards, he was happy with it. He had practiced funny one-liners and learnt most of his words so he wouldn't have to check his cards too often, and attended every rehearsal so he'd be ready for any changes or fallout. _Looks like I'm not allowed to be happy or try to achieve my dreams, however,_ he thinks to himself and a new wave of tears come to his eyes. 

He doesn't know how long he walks for. He only stops when he legs start to ache and the warm breeze suddenly cools until he's standing before a lake. 

He scans the area with red and puffy eyes before he drops to his knees and just curls into a ball, the pain in his heart releasing itself in a high pitched noise that makes his own ears hurt. It's completely silent by the lakeside and considerably cooler too. He can't hear any animals or the buzz of any insect. It's quiet and still. He sniffles and buries his face into his knees. 

And then he hears a noise. 

He wouldn't have heard it if not for the oppressive silence surrounding the area. It's like the water shifted and something is swimming. He lifts his head to squint, trying to see past the darkness beyond his vision. If not for the moonlight, he wouldn't have been able to see a thing. Instead he can see the evolution of the grass to sand, pretty little flowers growing at the edge of the water. Beyond that the water is almost black, Kun can only see a few metres out, the dark so encompassing, so... threatening.

Kun sees ripples in the water, close to where he's sitting. 

The hairs on the back of his neck stand up. 

He swipes a hand under his nose, holding his breath to try and calm his breathing as every warning sign inside his head starts going off one by one. His eyes strain to watch the movement beneath the water's surface, carefully raising himself into a crab position, beginning a slow shuffle backwards that every instinct inside him that's ever developed protests. His brain screams for him to run, to get off his hands and turn and bolt for the trees but Kun knows, he just _knows_ that whatever is inside that lake is watching. Waiting. It's expecting him to jump so Kun has to do all he can to not. 

His mind races. _What the hell could it be?_ Korea doesn't have any dangerous, water-based animals as far as he's aware. He could be just psyching himself out but somehow, Kun knows that the terror creeping up his skin isn't false. 

The woods are quiet. 

Kun blinks and there's a head peeking at him from inside the water. He's ashamed to admit that the noise he releases is more akin to a squeal than a gasp and his wrist slips, sending him crashing down and crushing his wrist beneath him. Pain jolts up his arm and his eyes water. 

A pair of glittering eyes stare back at him underneath a mop of black hair. He honestly can't tell much from his distance, he's still a good couple metres out, but gentle rays of moonlight allow Kun to see pale skin and a sharp bone structure before the bottom of his face is swallowed by the water. He's hovering almost completely still and the only reason Kun knows he must be moving to keep his body afloat is because he can still see the gentle ripples reaching outwards. 

The boy in the lake lifts a pale, bony arm out of the water and waves at him. 

Kun scrambles to his feet and sprints for the treeline. 

Panic overrides his entire system as he hears what sounds like a yowl behind him before there's frantic splashing as the boy in the lake presumably peruses him. Kun feels like he's fighting a losing battle and he doesn't even know what this boy is capable of -- his dress shoes slip and slide against the dampened grass, nearly sending him crashing back down. The movement makes his wrist flop around which in turn makes him grunt in pain as he battles his way up the small hill. The splashes cease and Kun almost pees himself when there's a thump behind him quickly followed by dull slapping as the boy starts running after him. 

_Is he naked?!_ Kun thinks hysterically. _What the fuck is going on?!_

He's almost at the trees when he feels something wipe at his back, just about grazing his suit jacket. He can't stop his desperate, terrified yell as he pumps his legs harder, shouting, "GO AWAY YOU CREEPY FUCK!" behind him. There's a low growl-like noise from behind him right before the breath is knocked out of him as he's tackled to the ground, his body crashing to the forest floor, struggling and writhing the whole way. His vision blacks out briefly when his skull knocks against the hard soil, his sore wrist making him cry out as it's crushed beneath his body once more. He can feel the boy scrambling up his body to try and hold him still, shouting something at him that Kun is too damn scared to understand. He kicks his legs out and bellows until his throat is hoarse, throwing his head back and feeling victorious when there's a sickening crunch followed by a pained howl. In return, a hand slips beneath his neck and pulls, blunt nails digging into the flesh of his jaw as he head is forced back, straining against his attacker's grip. There's a brief flash of confusion when the attacker pins him down and shoves his other arm into his face, rubbing his wrist all of Kun's nose and mouth as a sweet scent suddenly takes over his senses. 

His muscles relax against his will and he finds the fight leaving him until the only thing keeping his head upright is the boy's strict, unfailing grip on his jaw. The embarrassment is muted as drool starts to fall from his open mouth, eyes quickly growing heavy, head lolling. The boy chuckles, soft and sweet, and his head is slowly lowered back to the soft grass, a hand gently carding through his hair. His limbs buzz faintly and he hears as the boy starts to murmur nonsense to him. 

"It's okay, sweetie, I won't hurt you today. I need your help and I need you to calm down for that, okay?" The massage against his scalp is hypnotic. He makes a soft sound in the back of his throat and the boy makes a noise, almost cooing at him. "Stay calm, just let it take control, alright? You're so cute, y'know that, that's why I need you to work with me, alright? I need help and only you can give it to me, alright, sweetheart?" 

He can feel the boy slip off him and flip him onto his back, damp hands slipping under his arms to start dragging him away. 

"Stop resisting my magic, boy, you won't be hurt anymore today."

He drifts away. 

Kun wakes up feeling like death. 

His entire body feels likes its got little stones wriggling beneath his skin and his head pounds so much he can't help from retching, using his stiff and sore muscles to roll onto his side just in time to vomit up all that's in his stomach. His throat burns and his eyes water as he heaves, dimly aware of someone crying out in surprise before there's a weird shuffling noise and sounds like something is being dragged. He gasps for breath and lets out a choked noise when rough hands grab him by his suit jacket and flip him onto his back so he's face to face with a snarling mouth and a pair of furious black eyes. 

_He has no pupils,_ is all his fuzzy brain registers before his hearing clocks in and he's assaulted by complaints. 

"-asshole! I spare your life and you repay me by throwing up your guts all over my fucking rock?! Where're your manners?!"

Kun struggles to focus his eyes. The face is kind of familiar but more so unsettling -- pitch black eyes are framed by delicate lashes and almost snow-white skin pulled tight over gaunt and haggard cheeks. He looks a second away from keeling over from pure hunger alone, sopping wet hair stuck to his forehead, so Kun is more than a little bewildered when the absolute wisp of a human being just casual hoists him up like he's an unruly child and plops him a couple feet away from his puddle of vomit and tears, mumbling to himself in a language Kun can't understand as he corners it off by placing a bunch of pebbles around it. 

Kun lifts his head and stares at the boy. 

The boy glares back. 

"Are you done? Gross humans..."

Kun licks his lips, tastes vomit and gags, then coughs so hard he doubles over, one hand scrambling to keep him balanced so he doesn't fall off the admittedly huge rock and into the dark water below. When he finally catches his breath the first thing he asks is, "Where the hell am I?"

"On my rock. In my lake."

"Who are you?"

"You can call me Ten, my real name doesn't translate well into your language."

It's with a sinking, panicked feeling that Kun starts to remember how he ended up on this rock in the lake, the lakeshore invisible thanks to the overwhelming darkness projected down from the night sky. Kun doesn't even know how he can see Ten at all, he should be nearly blind. "...You're the boy in the lake."

"I am," Ten says silkily and Kun is noticing more now -- his bare and skinny chest, the sharp teeth that flash behind his lips as he speaks, the- "But I am not a boy, nasty human."

Kun's eyes blow so wide he fears for half a second they might pop out of his skull. 

Instead of legs, there's a huge, thick serpent tail stemming from Ten's naval, an oily black that gleams from the water soaking it. The appendage circles Kun entirely, a lose circle to keep him still but there's still plenty left, so much so that Kun can just see where is dips back into the water and disappears from sight. The teenager feels faint from just the sight. 

Clawed fingers and rough palms grab his chin with bruising strength and force his head back round, Ten's pupil-less eyes staring him down with terrifying hunger. 

"My name is Ten." His voice is as soft as satin, addictive and warm and melodic. "I am the siren of this lake. I have been starving for decades, and you will be the one to bring me my meals now."

"W-what?" His voice cracks. "You- you- you had _legs_ earlier, you _chased_ me! You had some weird drug and fucking- YOU KIDNAPPED ME?!"

Ten eyes him up and down with distaste. "Yes, I did. And I can have legs whenever I step on land but it takes all my energy to grow them. And _you_ made me use them for more than just standing, boy, which I don't appreciate. Getting you to this rock was a bitch and a half, you know that?"

Kun opens his mouth to say god knows what but Ten cuts him off quickly, reminding him that his face is literally in his hands when he squeezes so hard Kun whimpers from the pain. "Quiet. I want to talk business and if you don't shut up I'll drug you again, okay?"

The teenager bites his knuckles to stop from blubbering hysterically. The siren smiles.

"You're the first human to come by here in a long, long time, child, and it almost all my will power not to eat you when I saw you by the lakeside." He releases his grip, gliding back to settle comfortably back on his hands, tail shifting silently to accommodate. "To put it blunt, I got into an... argument, of sorts, with a cousin of mine." He pauses. "He tore out my voice box."

"Jesus Christ."

"I don't know who that is but they has nothing to do with this. Anyway, he tore out my voice box and I was rendered, as I'm sure you know, voiceless for a while. It took quite some time for me to even be able to talk, let alone create complete sentences. The only thing that helped me heal were my meals. They accelerated the process."

 _Did they put shrooms in the paint they threw on me?_ _This cannot be real_. Kun cannot be asking, "What do you need me for?" to the mythical siren in the lake near his school that _drugged_ him and _dragged_ him from the shore and put him on his rock and is now preventing him from leaving with his massive, not-real tail while he regales him with a weird story about fighting with his cousin. 

But he is. Because this is how far-gone Kun's life is now. 

Ten tilts his head back to look at the star-filled sky. The scowl on his face is fearsome but Kun's eyes are more drawn to the pale column of his throat and the ferocious scar that circles his adam's apple. "It healed my voice most of the way, but then people stopped coming. I _need_ to lure people in with my voice; this place used to be a popular camping site because of _me_." His head snaps back down and Kun flinches. " _I_ made this place grow, _I_ made it so beautiful no one could resist coming here, but when he took my voice _people stopped coming_. Because they couldn't hear me sing, and I was too weak to leave the lake to tend to the life surrounding it that made it so pretty. So, I never properly healed, because my meals slowly trickled out."

Kun feels like he's been jolted awake by six expresso shots alone from the raw hunger that Ten regards him with. He's cold and he's tired and he feels like shit both mentally and physical but Kun can't leave because he's stuck on this stupid rock with a siren. _A siren._

_Look at me now, Xiaojun. Not sure this is the adventure you wanted me to be on._

"I need you to bring me people so I can heal my voice."

"Y- you want me to send people to their- this can't be real, this cannot be real."

Ten rolls his eyes. "Relax, human, a little murder never hurt anyone. It's natural."

"No! It's not! You might eat me!"

"You're scrawny," Ten complains. "And if I eat you now then I don't know when the next sad sack of shit will show up, so I might as well give it a try now."

Kun is completely flummoxed. He struggles to find the words, mouth opening and closing until Ten reaches over and helpfully snaps is shut with a clawed finger, the smile on his face mean and cruel. "Come on, little human. If you do this I won't kill you, so you can go home and go do whatever it is that humans do. You're cute, and sad, and wouldn't satisfy me as a meal anyway, so why not help me out?"

"...I'm not cute," he manages. "And being sad has nothing to do with this."

"Doesn't it?" Ten's eyes glint. "Sirens don't just feed on flesh -- I can taste your fear, child, and your hatred for the children that bully you. The despair they put you through, the humiliation..." Kun stiffens when he comes closer, the stench of rotten flesh puffing from his mouth as he whispers into his ear, "If you bring them to me, they'll never hurt you again. They'll never hurt anyone after you, they'll suffer the same pain you did. They'll regret it all."

Kun stays stock still and stares straight ahead as bony arms circle his body in a mockery of a hug. 

"I can make it all better, human. I can give you things you've never even dreamed of."

He leans back and slices open his palm with a claw. It isn't blood that drips out but golden ichor. Pale hands reach for Kun's hand and traces his sweaty palms, grinning. "Do we have a deal?"

The silence around them echoes and Kun stares at his hand in the siren's grip with blank eyes, his morals warring with his emotions. 

"My name is Qian Kun..."

When he makes his way from the lakeside to the forest, dawn has already begun.

Two days later and Kun has a lot more problems than figuring out how to bring a potential murder victim to the lake. First of all, he passed out on his own doorstep from blood loss and the intensity of the migraine that haunted him thanks to Ten's mysterious drug. When he woke up it was to his uncle crying hysterically over his presumed dead body, the cops storming up the drive way, and his aunt shrieking in frantic Chinese while on the phone to his parents -- turns out, when he hadn't returned home after the award ceremony, his aunt and uncle panicked because Kun was nothing if not punctual. Once they heard about what had happened they assumed he'd run away or wandered off to kill himself. He doesn't know why they would think that. He overworks himself and hates himself and is bullied at school and is kind of miserable over all but he doesn't want to kill himself. C'mon now. 

They hadn't cared. Nor had the police who spent seven hours searching for him all. Or the ambulance that arrived to whisk him away. Or the principal who visited him while he was in hospital. 

"They students who pulled that cruel prank have been identified and suspended," he tells him in a hoarse voice, wizened features unreadable but tone filled with sorrow. Kun eyes him up and down and says nothing. "They will be in contact with you soon, Kun-ssi, but only to give their own personal apologies as advised by both the school council and their parents. Bullying is not tolerated in our school-"

Kun tunes him out right after that because this shit has been happening to for years. They only decided to care when it couldn't be ignored any longer. 

He turns his head to peer out the hospital window, admiring the traditional housing that's slowly starting to mix with more modern styles as the times change and move on. This town is so pretty, and Kun is sure he could learn to love it here if he was given the time. And the space. And a couple months away from humankind. 

_"You have seven days from now, human," Ten warns him. "If I don't have a body brought to my shores by then..."_

_Kun's teeth chatter from where he stands, soaked in water, bare feet digging into the cool grass. He doesn't know where his shoes are. "I thought you said you couldn't leave the lake for long? What will you do if I just leave, huh?"_

_The look on his face dares him to try._

_"I have friends in high places, and people who owe me in low ones. I hate to use up favours but if it's to seek revenge I'll do it, boy."_

_"I have a name. It's Kun, I told you-"_

_"I'll call you by your name when you deserve it." He glides backwards through the water until his face is almost completely absorbed. "Now hurry up!" And with that, he is_ _gone._

 _Seven days,_ he thinks wearily as he trudges his way up the drive way to the front door where is aunt waits, face pinched in worry. _Except now I have just about five._

She presses a kiss to his cheek and ushers him inside briskly. His uncle pulls him into a hug the moment he sees him step into the hall. 

_Five days to commit a murder._

His phone buzzes in his pocket. It could be Xiaojun or his mom, but somehow he knows it's not. He knows it's one of them. 

His uncle grimaces when he catches sight of the swathe of bandages hiding the almighty cut on Kun's palm when he sits down at the dinner table, mouth watering at the sight of his aunt's homemade cooking. "How did you get that again?" He asks in Chinese and his aunt swats him, hissing, "He just got home, leave him be!"

"It's fine," the brunet mutters. He smiles weakly to try and assuage their concern but when there's no clear result he just stuffs his face with food until they reluctantly follow. "It was really dark and some of the tree branches were broken; when I tried to climb over one I fell and it got cut. It didn't hurt all that much."

It did. Ten laughed when Kun teared up as he tore into his hand but he refused to let the tears fall. He'd cried enough by then that he got tired of it. 

"Those kids," his aunt swears foully. "I want them gone from the school, an apology isn't enough. Don't forgive them, if you do they might pull something again-"

"They won't," his uncle interrupts with a haggard look. "I've spoken to their parents and the teachers, the punishments they'll be receiving are harsh enough they won't even look at our boy without permission. And besides, forgiveness is in Kun's hands, not ours -- if he forgives them then he is proving himself to be the bigger person."

His aunt scoffs. "What they deserve is a good beating."

"Honey!"

Kun grows content listening to their bickering, feeling almost like it's a normal family dinner. If he ignores the pain medicine packed into the bag at his feet, the scar developing on his palm, and the torn up suit hanging on the washing line outside then it's almost like nothing ever happened. His phone buzzes again inside his pocket and it's with a rolling stomach that he pulls it out and glances at the notifications on screen. 

_4:16pm, Xiaojun : KUN-GE ARE YOU ALRIGHT WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED THE OTHER DAY YOUR MOM TOLD ME..._

_4:25pm, Unknown: Hi this is Yoonah, just checking in on you, I heard what happened and I..._

_6:58pm, Unknown: this is bae jimin pls text me when u can i want to meet and apologise..._

_4 other unread messages_

"Kun, no phones at the dinner table."

"Sorry auntie. By the way, what sauce did you use in this recipe? It's really good but I can't remember if I've had this before."

He's quickly absorbed back into the conversation, the weight of the texts slowly growing and growing the longer he ignores them. 

_00:00am, Me: Hi Jimin-ssi, I'd really like to meet up so we can sort this out too. Is tomorrow behind the school okay, it's more private there :)_

_00:06am, A**hole: that is great i will see u there at like 3 o'clock thank u for this opporuntiy kun-ssi_

_00:07am, Me: Of course. Don't thank me at all_

Kun's hands are so sweaty he could fill a bucket to the brim. He stuffs them in his pockets so they won't shake as he watches Bae Jimin jog towards him, his stupid face drawn into a stupid grin and his stupid body wearing just a tank top and shorts. His muscled body looks twice as scary when it's not swallowed by their school uniform and Kun can still remember toting around a bruise on his ribs for weeks from just one punch from this guy. 

_At least he has a scar from when I bit him._

"Thank you so much, dude," he says as he draws near, extending a hand like he wants to shake. Kun stares at until Jimin's stupid smile cracks and he drops it, rubbing the back on his neck instead. "I really appreciate the opportunity to talk to you after this whole..."

"Disaster?" Kun suggests. Jimin shrugs and says, "I was going to say mess, disaster seems a bit much, ya know?"

 _Fuck Ten,_ Kun thinks as he sets them walking back into the woods Kun only wandered into days ago. Jimin follows without question, the absolute clown. _I think I could commit this murder all on my own if he says anything else._

It only takes about ten minutes for Bae Jimin to get to tired of the silence before he starts yammering, his 'apology' a short and succinct, "it won't happen again, it was just a prank gone wrong, ya know? I didn't think it would, like, hurt anyone. My bad."

"Anyone?" Kun asks. "Other than me, no one was supposed to be on that part of the stage. The performers weren't to move too close to the crowd-"

"I said my bad," he interrupts, cheerful smile dropping. Kun's fingers twitch at the sudden animosity between them and he tries to move away as subtly as possible. "It's in the past now, isn't it? Are we good or what?"

"We're good..." He's such a coward. He used to be able to stand up for himself, now look at him. His parents would be so disappointed. 

"Good."

He goes back to talking about himself and his summer plans. All the while, Kun lets the fire burning in his chest lead them deeper and deeper into the woods, until not a thing can be heard. 

"Woah," his soon-to-be-dead bully marvels when the lake can finally be spotted, the water as dark and still as it was all those days ago. "What is this place?"

It takes a monumental amount of effort to speak steadily. He can feeling his nerves growing wilder and stronger as they leave the trees and near the lake-shore. "A peace offering of sorts. This place is great for hanging during the summer, you and your friends might like to come here sometime. It's pretty quiet and private too."

Jimin replies with something but Kun can't hear. His hands are shaking so hard he has to tangle them in each other to try and keep them still, a sweat that isn't from the summer heat growing on his brow as he watches, frozen, as Jimin just saunters carelessly towards the water. He knows Ten is near, he doesn't understand it but he can feel as the siren draws closer and closer, his hunger a heavy and palpable feeling that has Kun rooted to the spot. There's no mist encompassing the lake and he can see all the way to Ten's rock, hundreds of metres away, dead centre in the lake, a little empty island that marks the half way point of the lake's enormous size. Kun has no idea why no one else stumbled upon this place before he did, it's almost too big to miss. 

"The water is kind of chilly," Jimin is saying, his back to Kun as he dips a hand into the water. "But that's nice to have when we get summers like these!"

He laughs. Kun swallows bile and calls out to him, an overwhelming feeling of guilt and fear crushing the righteous anger burning in side his chest, "Jimin-ssi."

He stands and turns to face him. His expression is curious and unguarded. "Yeah?"

_I can't do this. He's just a kid like me oh my god I can't fucking do this I can't kill him I can't-_

He takes stumbling steps forwards, gasping, "W-wait I'm so sorry you need to live right-"

Jimin frowns. "Kun-ssi, what do you mean-?"

He can't seem to move fast enough. His heart is pounding a mile a minute but it's like he's stuck in motion. "I'm _sorry_."

And then Ten is rising out of the water, lunging forward with bangs bared as his humongous tail flies out and wraps itself around Kun's frail body, knocking him to the ground and keeping him there as Ten pushes a startled Jimin onto his stomach and before anyone blinks, sinks his teeth into the back of his neck. 

The screams Jimin releases as Ten tears him to shreds have Kun screaming too. 

Ten's tail keeps him securely in place as it winds itself around his entire body, impervious to his desperate punches and scratches, the scales as hard as rock. Blood roars in his ears as he can only watch as Ten devours his former bully, serrated fangs mangling his throat and claws ripping open the flesh on his back to the siren can easily feast upon the meat and bone beneath. He doesn't drug him to silence his screams and stiffen his flailing, he seems to revel in the pain and hurt he causes, merciless. Jimin gurgles helpless as he chokes on his own blood, his kicking feet quickly crushed beneath Ten's tail, the hands clawing at the dirt stopped by inhuman strength. 

The brunet watches with horror as Ten rears his head back, blood and gore sliding down his chin and neck, a look of absolute euphoria on him as he forces Jimin's hands backwards until there's an audible pop as his shoulders are dislocated. Ten giggles at the sound before shoving three meaty fingers in his mouth. He sucks on them almost casually before sinking his teeth in and tearing them clean off. Blood sprays and Kun wails at the sight but Jimin is half-dead already, his stupid smile that Kun has only associated with misery and humiliation now gone and soaked red. 

"No, no, _no_ ," Kun babbles. " _No_ , I didn't _mean it, I'm sorry,_ please just leave him alone I can't-" He hiccups and whimpers when Ten adjust his head to allow himself easier access to his neck and Jimin's lifeless brown eyes meet his tear-filled ones. Kun reads nothing but pain and accusation in them. 

He presses his palms to his eyes to block out the sight and soon his own cries grow so loud he doesn't even notice when the noise stops. He flinches when Ten's tail tightens around him and curls in on himself as much as he can inside the tail's tight grip, a new wave of tears spilling from his eyes when sticky hands grab his hands and pull them away from his face, easily over-powering his weak struggles until he's eye to eye with Ten's blank eyes and deceptively gentle smile. 

"Thank you for the meal, Kun," he murmurs, voice richer and smooth, a pleased hum leaving him when he hears it himself. Already it looks like his first meal is making an affect, eyes brighter, palms softer where they cup Kun's tear stained cheeks as he smooths his thumbs over Kun's cheekbones in a false show of comfort. The brunet only makes a broken sound as blood is smeared across his skin. Ten holds his head firm as he leans in to lick a fat teardrop up, giggling when he struggles futilely. "I'm so grateful, I really am. I'll be able to sing in no time and then our deal will be up and you can go wherever you want."

"I- I don't wanna- I can't do this again _it hurts so much, Ten, please._ "

Ten only laughs when a fresh wave of tears starts up. "You're such a crybaby, child. It's only one human, and it's only a couple more until I don't have to rely on you anymore. A deal is a deal." All of a sudden they're moving until Ten is submerged in the water again, his tail holding Kun aloft as he lazily cleans his hand of blood, picking grit and bone from under his nails. Kun's eyes burn with the effort it takes to not look at the shredded body just a few feet away and he closes his eyes when Ten wipes the blood off his face, pinching his cheek and muttering, "You're cute when you cry, so pink and squishy. The snot is a bit gross though..."

Kun sniffles. It's only a few minutes until the grip Ten has on him loosens and he's plopped into the freezing lake water, cheeks flushing with embarrassment when Ten laughs at him. Kun's surprised he even has the capacity to feel embarrassment after witnessing a horrific murder that he helped carry out, eyes heavy and painfully swollen as he watches Ten grab the carcass by the ankle and drag it into the black water until he can't see it. The blood isn't even visible the water is so dark. For a second Kun wonders how this place was once so popular when the sight of the water itself scares him but then decides that he's too drained to care. He wades out of the lake with soaking wet jeans and shivers when Ten calls out to him as he leaves, a smile in his voice but a threat too. 

"This lad is meaty enough to last me a while so I'll give you two weeks to bring me my next one, alright, Kun? And don't worry about the police. His memory belongs to you and me now."

Kun gets about ten minutes from the lake before he collapses to his knees and has to crawl his way over to a tree to lean against it's trunk for support. His brain is racing a mile a minute but his movements are slow and fumbling as he pulls out his phone, scanning his contact for the new one he got just last night. 

Except it's gone. There's no one labelled 'A**hole' under his phone, his most recent text is a conversation about his brief period as a missing persons with Xiaojun, and when he checks his last conversation with his aunt about the bullies it's changed. 

_1:34pm, Auntie: Don't forgive those four boys, Kun. Give 'em hell_

Earlier it was five boys. Kun remembers it clearly. She said give those five boys hell. Why is it four. How did it change?

_"His memory belongs to you and me now."_

Kun keels over, digs his nails in the dirt, sucks in a deep breath, and screams. 

Kun's read stories. He likes to read, his favourite genre has always been murder mysteries, and he was always okay with how quick the main characters became okay with violence and murder and brutal killings. He never wondered how they did it or found it weird. He hardly thought about it. 

Kun does not find it easy. Kun does not feel any 'thrill of the chase' or gain an unholy bloodlust. Kun cries after every murder, he weeps when he sees the bodies all mangled and broken, and he hates what he has to do for Ten to live. 

Because Ten needs to eat humans if Kun doesn't want to be eaten and Ten needs to eat so he can heal and become strong enough to tend to his land and Ten needs to eat so Kun can eventually be set free from their horrific deal. And therein lives a problem. A very, very big problem. 

Kun has come to like Ten. He likes his sharp and mean humour, he likes his laugh, he likes his stories, he likes to watch him dance around the water with a beatific smile on his face. And his brain must have broken after all these weeks of walking around like he hasn't helped erased the existence of the three boys and two girls who used to bully him, because sometimes, Kun wonders what it would be like if he could tease Ten the way he likes to tease Xiaojun. To be held for a reason that isn't just to stop him crying and quieten his guilt. He contemplates the days he lays by the lakeside doing homework while Ten creates gardens and fantasizes about Ten watching him with a different kind of hunger. 

It's been nearly two months since the first murder. Kun is definitely broken now. 

"You're an odd little human," Ten comments as he lounges on the grass beside Kun, watching him study with curious eyes. His tail is so long it still lies in the water even with Kun over a metre away and he still gets curious over it's actual size. Kun wants to touch it, but he's all to aware of how inclined Ten is to bite. "You watched me feed last week and cried so hard you passed out, yet here you come to study for your exams."

"My exams are over." Kun twirls a pen in his fingers. "I just have nothing better to do."

"Boring!"

"Productive!" He argues and Ten snorts. Even that sounds nice. 

("Why do you come here, Qian Kun?" Ten wonders aloud, watching Kun fold up his history notes and swap them out for his manuscript and music notes, a gleam entering those gentle brown eyes as something he's passionate about appears. He's heard Kun mumble about his self-produced melodies before, even listened to him hum and sing when he thought Ten wasn't paying attention, and he finds that he doesn't find the noise as much as he'd thought. He's never loved a voice more than his own but the more he hears Kun's soft voice, be it in Korean or Chinese... 

A smile curves his lips.

He made the better choice that night.)

The weather grows warmer and days pass by as July hits at full swing, bringing in a heatwave so strong Kun has already heard a couple stories of sunstroke and people suffering from severe burns. He stocks up on sun cream, loathing his sensitive skin, and keeps an eye out for more victims, a weight in his stomach as he realizes that now that he's already gotten rid of his own bullies, everyone else he offers to Ten will be almost guiltless in his eyes. He supposes the nightmares will only get worse from here. 

The next victim comes in the form of a flirty boy from out of town, who intercepts Kun on his way to the lake. Kun's latest hobby is feeding Ten human food and hearing his opinion on it -- he likes Kun's homemade dishes the best but despises any form of fruit.

"My name's Woojin." He's lanky and tall, towering over Kun in a way he's unused too, and his hair is the colour of sand. Kun stares at it with curiosity that makes Woojin smiles at him -- people dyeing their hair unnatural colours is becoming more and more common, but the people that Kun usually sees with colours such of this give off... weird energy, to say in the least. Where he wouldn't have noticed it before, now that he hangs out with Ten and has a 'bond' with him, he's realized that they give off a very similar energy to the siren. It only encourages him to obey his aunt's old-fashioned words of caution and avoid them completely. "Is it obvious I'm not a local?"

Kun smiles crookedly and swaps his shopping bag over to shake his hand. "Yeah but no need to worry, I'm not really local either. My name's Qian Kun."

His eyes light up. "Chinese? My cousin is Chinese but mine is shit -- mind if I walk with you? I don't know anyone else here." His laugh is squeaky but his hands are so calloused. There's a skateboard tucked under his arm and he stares at Kun in a way he isn't used to. His own laughter is shy and nervous. 

"I-If you want? I'm just bringing my friend some ice pops." He lifts the bag and shakes it, laughing again. He's not sure what to do with himself right now. "Do you want one?"

He licks his lips and steps a little closer. "I'd love one."

Kun leads the way to the lake, taking an alternative route that is further from his school but gets them there quicker. Stumbling upon Woojin was a complete coincidence and while it does solve Ten's problem of finding a new victim for Ten, he's feeling anxious for a whole different reason than leading him to his death. Woojin sticks close to his side as he walks, his hand brushing against Kun's as they walk and he spends less time eating his pop than watching Kun suck on his and asking him questions about himself, eyes dark and smile far too attractive for Kun to be behaving right. 

"Does your friend live far?"

"Less than a minutes, I'd say. You see that lake, over there? He lives right..." Woojin's fingers circle his wrist and they stop in the middle of the grass, the taller abruptly backing him up against a tree trunk with a sexy smirk. Kun's brain is short circuiting. He can almost hear Ten splashing by the lake-shore but Woojin seems deaf to it. He untangles the shopping bag from Kun's fingers and drops it alongside his skateboard. 

Kun's ice pop is melting all over his fingers. He has no idea where Woojin's has gone. His heart can only pound furiously as Woojin leans up against him, sliding a hand up to cup his neck as he murmurs, "You're really attractive, Kun, and I'd really like to kiss you right now." 

"Okay," the brunet says stupidly and then their lips meet. Softly, at first, but Woojin is impatient, both hands dropping to hold Kun's hips as he pushes a thigh between his legs, tongue flicking against the seam of his lips for entrance. Kun digs his nails into his shoulders with a grunt and it stops being innocent right on cue. 

It's only now occurring to Kun that this may be his first ever encounter with a 'fuckboy', someone looking to hit it and quit it as their tongues clash and Woojin runs his callous hands all over his body before slipping them under his shirt to stroke softly at the skin of his belly, lips pulling into a smirk when Kun yelps at the unexpected touch. Kun pulls away to suck in air and Woojin immediately attacks his neck like a leech, teeth scraping over his pulse in a way that Kun will forever deny made him shudder, irritatingly talented lips setting to work on putting a hickey on his neck. 

His aunt and uncle killing him pops up first in his mind as he gasps in pleasure but then Ten's pretty little face pops into mind and he remembers his original objective. He gasps for a whole new reason and tries to talk, barely getting out a, "Woojin, wait," before the boy ignores him and boldly cups his dick, chuckling when Kun's head thumps back against the tree with a low, "fuck."

 _Fuck boys,_ Kun thinks hazily. His limbs feel heavy and his head is fuzzy. Woojin's lips against his skin are slowly slowing. _You love 'em and you hate 'em._

Kun's knees feel weak. There's a distinctly sweet smell clogging his nose and it's not until he feels Woojin mutter a confused, "The hell?" that he realizes what's really happened. 

"Wow, Kun, who knew you had it in you?" He watches with heavy eyes as Ten steps out of the brush with a wicked smile, naked as the day he was born and still soaked with water. It's a testament to his increasing health that drug that he once used on Kun at close quarters a couple weeks ago can now be used from a distance, the scent scent filling the whole area. Birds drop to the ground from the branches and a squirrel scampering away collapses. Woojin is mumbling indistinctly into his neck and his entire body weight is supported by Kun's smaller stature as they quickly slide down the tree trunk in a pile of limbs. "An attractive young man like you, finally getting the attention he deserves? I'd love to say I'm happy for you but..."

He turns his eyes on Woojin. His smile grows teeth. 

"He's cute. But you can do better, Kun-Kun." He pulls Woojin off him with one hand, not even looking at him when he lifts a claw to his throat and slices it right open. Kun's too drugged up and out of it to cry but he's grateful, because the sensation of getting soaked in hot blood of the guy you were just making out with is a unique one. Ten's nostrils flare and he licks his lips, clearly hungry, but he throws the body aside and drops to his knees instead, crawling up Kun's body until he's sat naked in his lap. He thumbs at his cheek with a smirk, swiping his fingers along his neck. They come away bloody and he pops them into his mouth to clean them off. 

Kun whimpers. Ten's grin is downright malevolent. 

"Don't go around kissing other boys, alright, Kun? I really like you, sweetheart, and with more time I could learn to love you. Stick with me, baby." The scent is letting up at last but Kun's head is still spinning from just having Ten in his lap like this, tonguing the blood off his face and cradling his face so so sweetly. _I'm really fucked up now aren't I?_

"Will you wait for me, Kun? Will you wait until I'm strong, and until you're ready? I'll take you once you're of age okay?"

"I'll wait." He's dizzy and so hard it hurts and maybe also a little bit crushing on Ten. _I'm so fucked up._

"Lovely," Ten purrs. "Now here's a gift for your patience."

The hickey he leaves on top of Woojin's is huge, and bound to get Kun into even bigger shit with his aunt and uncle. He leaves the forest hours later with blood stained clothes and a whole in his heart carved in Ten's image, waiting for him to fill it when the time is right. 

**Author's Note:**

> monster fucker qian kun ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
> 
> lmao i know ppl wanted more of That Markhyuck Shit but i wanted to explore this concept in other ways too. w other ppl. like with my mans kun. so here's some; hope you liked it, leave comments/criticism if u will, stay safe during this pandemic, and BLM will always matter
> 
> edit: link to a tweet that contains away u can help if u can’t donate 
> 
> https://twitter.com/woahluvs/status/1268433487226384385?s=21


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